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Drunken assaults on rise

Thursday 1 May, 2008 12:01am

ALCOHOL-fuelled assaults have doubled in NSW over the past 10 years with the Lake Macquarie Local Command recording 375 alcohol-resulted assaults in 2006-07.

Releasing his latest report this week, auditor-general Peter Achterstraat said taxpayers were picking up the tab for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages state-wide. Lake Macquarie sat at about the middle of the scale, with areas such as Rose Bay and Botany Bay being at the lower end with figures of 65 and 52 respectively and City Central predictably topping the chart with 774. The Lake fared better than neighbouring commands Brisbane Water (554), the Lower Hunter (493) and Newcastle (674).

Mr Achterstraat said massive inconsistencies in the policing of licensed premises were part of the problem, with some licensees prosecuted for breaching license laws where others received warnings.

He said it was too late for police to simply catch the drunks who had assaulted people or for hospitals to patch up victims. Premises needed to ensure that fewer people got drunk in the first place. Police needed to consistently enforce licensing laws and the Liquor Administration Board needed to impose more restrictions on premises breaching the laws, he said.